Twitter ‘insult’ leads to prison for Kuwaiti activist

A Kuwaiti court sentenced a man to two years in prison for insulting the country’s ruler on Twitter, a lawyer following the case said, as the Gulf Arab state cracks down on criticism of the authorities on social media. According to the verdict on Sunday — published by online newspaper Alaan — a tweet written by Rashid Saleh al-Anzi in October “stabbed the rights and powers of the Emir” Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. Anzi, who has 5,700 Twitter followers, was expected to appeal the verdict, said the lawyer, who asked not to be named.